Writing for and Understanding Public Relations Campaigns

Campaigns That Unite

It’s difficult to watch from afar the devastation of recent events, including the series of hurricanes destroying homes, businesses, and cities. Checking in on friends and family who may be impacted. Praying for support and relief.

Yet in the midst of any disaster what impacts me most are the stories of people coming together: Neighbors checking on neighbors. Strangers going above and beyond to rescue those in need. Emergency responders traveling across cities and states to assist.

Humanity steps up during disasters. Unfortunately, some individuals take advantage of these situations—looting, creating false campaigns, starting rumors. Overpowering those are the people who band together to provide assistance and meet needs both short term and long term.

Public relations campaigns become a great way to get the word out on how individuals and groups can help, whether donating money, goods, time, or skills. I’ve seen several campaigns these past few weeks, including five former U.S. presidents uniting to raise funds for victims of Hurricane Harvey and nonprofit organizations like the Humane Society reminding the country how they and others help serve lost and injured animals during natural disasters. Using news media, social media, PSAs, and word of mouth, these campaigns call attention to the needs at hand and give others a means to support in a positive way.

What campaigns have you seen recently that serve the purpose of uniting people toward a cause? What kind of impact do they have? How did the campaign come to your attention? Share your thoughts!

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19 thoughts on “Campaigns That Unite”

A campaign that recently came to my attention was done by Amnesty International. This campaign was selected by the Cannes Lions website, amongst other top campaigns from 2016.

Amnesty international came together to create The Refugee Nation, an olympic team composed of refugees and one new flag—orange with a black stripe. This campaign for me was an awesome way to bring people together; those from multiple nations were united under one cause. I feel as if the flag used in the campaign became a symbol of hope for those who were outcast. The flag and Olympic team gave those without a true home a new sense of belonging. This campaign made me more aware of the refugee crisis and my responsibility to welcome in the marginalized.

I remember what a powerful moment it was when the refugee team marched into the Olympic stadium. It was an emotional and impactful way to, as you mentioned, bring greater awareness to the refugee crisis.

This is such a cool campaign, Sam. I love how they were able to unite as one! I think unity is hard to find in today’s day and age, but it is so necessary! To see a push for unity is a breath of fresh air and I hope to see more moves in this direction in the near future!

Recently, there has been an up and coming YouTuber named Jake Paul. He has gained 10 million followers within 6 months and is in the top three for most popular YouTube content creator. Recently he has been under attack for wrong actions he has caused, but because of his platform, he has been able to create a campaign, using his followers to help those in need in Texas during hurricane Harvey. Jake Paul drove straight from Los Angeles to Houston Texas, made one stop in San Antonio, asking fans to meet them at Walmart to gather diapers and such.
Then in Houston, they helped save people stuck in their homes with jet skis.
Jake Paul created a GoFundme and spread the word to his fans which as raised $40,000.
I believe in this way Jake Paul was able to use his platform in a positive way taking action and making a change for those affected by the hurricane.
This campaign came to my attention because I have seen Jake Paul do some great, and horrible things through the media.
I am glad he took action and wanted to make a change.

I haven’t followed Jake Paul closely, but I’ve seen some of the more negative news around some of his actions. Influencers like him can have a significant impact, for good or for bad, so it’s good to hear that he used his platform to support a campaign for a good cause.

I also have recently been following Jake Paul and his recent attempts to help those in Houston. I also know the horrible things he has done in the up bringing of his career. It is hard for me to place him as a good person or a bad person but using his platform to help those who are facing the hurricane, that was an endearing move by him. He was first brought to my attention through the #1 Youtuber, Pewdiepie, when Jake Paul “dissed” him in his music video. I then found out about some of the bad things Jake has done. I’d like to think that his most recent move, of helping those in Huston, was the real Jake Paul and the other stuff is just for views. Regardless, I am thankful that he was there to help in some way.

A couple of organizations that stuck out to me in the last month or so were #PIMPINJOY and Mutt Nation. PIMPINJOY represents the celebration of people who are going through the worst times in their lives, but choose joy. Specifically, Shop It Forward sells merchandise for good causes, right now it is for Hurricane Harvey. All of the money goes to a cause or foundation no profits or money is made from selling the merchandise. Mutt Nation’s mission “is to promote and facilitate the adoption of shelter pets, encourage spay & neuter for all pets, and educate the public about the importance and beneficial impact of these actions.” They put on adoption drives, concerts, sell merchandise, and more.

PIMPINJOY has raised $1,772,115 since November of 2014
Mutt Nation has raised a lot of money and has had a bunch of benefit concerts, but I couldn’t find current numbers.

PIMPINJOY has been around since 2014 and I only found out about it last year from work. A lot of their business comes from the founders radio show (The Bobby Bones Show) and their social media. Mutt Nation was founded in 2009 and I recently found out about it from country music news Instagram accounts Taste of Country and Whiskey Riff. Both organizations have celebrity backing and I think they bring people together for great causes.

I have recently also seen some Cannes Lions Campaigns, and really enjoyed one about the Fearless Girl statue placed on Wall Street by an Investment Firm. They shared a meaningful and relevant message, standing up for women in leadership positions. They also started a fund to invest in companies with more women in leadership. The amount of impressions this campaign made on various platforms was astronomical. It was so cool to see something like this petitioned (in order to keep it) and become a movement of sorts. Now, it remains there for hopefully years to come, which is an incredible accomplishment for a company.

I think it was such an amazing way to see how PR can really impact a people group. They converted payphones all over the city into mini banks that people could deposit their money into. They recognized a huge need and they focused their efforts and resources on fixing it. With those mini banks, people were able to start micro financing, investing and saving in a safe and monitored way. This campaign got people to rally behind this common goal, and it helped so many people start saving. I loved watching how PR could contribute to changing the world!

I also recently looked into this campaign and I had much the same thought! I think it is phenomenal that they are using products that are already there, things that they do not have to bring in, and making a difference

A fundraising campaign that has been quite popular on social media is the “Hand in Hand: A Benefit for Hurricane Relief”. The one-hour telethon, including appearances from a large number A-list celebrities held today, was able to raise over $14.5 million.The celebrities involved with thousands to millions of followers were posting on their social media accounts about the telethon and asked their supporters to donate to the cause. It was great to see people with such large followings using their platforms to raise awareness and encourage others to donate. With all the chaos that is happening in the country, the telethon was centered around the idea of unity in times of crisis.

I completely agree that these celebrities’ platforms are being used quite well in times of major crisis. Often they are giving insanely generously, and some of them are not even posting about it in order to get recognition. The public has learned about it some way or another.

When catastrophe hits, social media has the ability to show the effects in a much more personal way. For example, during the last couple days, Snap Chat has included stories where residents in Texas and Florida can post video clips and pictures of their houses, streets, and schools all destroyed from the flooding. News casters can only show so much in a short amount of time allowed for a television segment, but when there is a space for the majority of people suffering from the hurricane to share what is happening, everyone else in the world can see what is really going on in a more real sense.

Because so many people have snap chat on their phone and use it regularly, having a donation link to raise money for the hurricane victims is a smart way to reach individuals who may not usually participate in raising money. Seeing live videos and pictures of harsh winds and flooded houses, with a link at the bottom of the page, encourages the viewer to help, even if it is only $25.

In the story posted today called “Hand in Hand Relief”, famous people such as Justin Bieber, Beyonce, and Leonardo Dicaprio all encouraged people watching to donate whatever they could to the cause. In times of trouble, reaching out to the people around you, and even to people in different parts of the world raises awareness and helps with the rebuilding process.

Here is the donation link to participate in donating to the hurricane relief.

Just like Sam, I also can’t help but think about a campaign that was chosen for the Cannes Lion website; the Fearless Girl.

Earlier this year a statue of a little girl was put up directly in front of the Wall Street bull in New York City, and the reaction was incredible. With hundreds of millions of Twitter and Instagram hits, the girl made a huge impact. So much so, that she now has a place on Wall Street for a full year. That was truly incredible to me, as a woman I know that we have to take on an awful lot. It breaks my heart to see any woman doubt her self worth or capabilities. The girl is a great representation of the God given strength that females of all ages possess, and by far one of my favorite campaigns.

When I thought of uniting campaigns, Wall Street’s “Fearless Girl” campaign came to my mind. I learned of this campaign recently after studying the top picked campaigns of 2017 by Cannes Lions.

The Wall Street investment firm, State Street Global Investors, recognized the issue that women are currently not making it to the top of any profession anywhere in the world, and they addressed the issue head on with their campaign. They simply, yet boldly placed statue of a young girl standing tall, hands on hips, chest puffed out with pride, to stare down the middle of Wall Street. “Fearless Girl” became a symbol of empowerment overnight as her stance and placement spoke much lower than words. The campaign blew up on International Women’s day and was petitioned to stay on Wall Street permanently. This campaign served to unite and empower young girls to older women and everyone in between.

“Fearless Girl” will continue to stand as an impactful icon to girls growing up in America and women living out their dreams on Wall Street. She is a figure of encouragement and empowerment. New York Times commented on her legacy stating “that while marching is important, sometimes you make a difference by standing still”.

It brings me joy to know younger girls will have a powerful figure like her to look towards for encouragement to live out their dreams.

What a great campaign! It is refreshing to see such a powerful statement on the empowerment of women. Imagine how much our society could change if more people took the time to run such campaigns. Imagery such as the Fearless Girl has the power to stick with people for the rest of their lives.

One of my favorite campaigns that I have ever seen was the “yes we can” campaign for the Rio paralympics. The Paralympics have always been a very overlooked event happening after the olympics and this year for the olympics they decided to do something about that. This was a campaign that was selected by the Cannes Lions website, amongst other top campaigns from 2016.

The Paralympics filmed a phenomenal music video that was title “yes, I can”. This addressed an issue that every paraplegic has had to face, that of being told that “no, you can’t”. It was a well put together music video that showed each sport and its top athletes performing, as well as performance arts, showing that “yes, they can” do each sport or art just as well as a none injured individual can do. The tune is still stuck in my head, and all together is a phenomenal campaign

The Bachelor franchise! I, like many people, am a Bachelor/Bachelorette watcher and I follow a few of them on Instagram. Yes, I do agree that there are many that go on the show just to claim fame, but with the recent natural disasters, many have been using their fame to help raise awareness and funds!

For example, recent Bachelorette, Rachel Lindsay, started a campaign to raise money for the flood in Houston. Lindsay (Texas), and now finance Bryan Abasolo (Florida), hold a lot of power in their hands because of their position with the Bachelorette. With both of their home towns under the pressure and destruction of natural disasters, they are taking advantage of their “claim to fame” to do all they can to help.